Why Tony Nominees Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman Love That You’re Feeling Some Kind of Way About ‘Lempicka’

variety.com:

Gordon Cox Theater Editor The new musical “Lempicka” has inspired a love-it-or-hate-it response from critics and audiences alike — and its two newly-minted Tony-nominated actors, Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman, love that everyone seems to have strong feelings at all — positive or negative. Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below: “It’s been a while since a show has taken the risks and the big swings our show has,” said Espinosa, the fan-favorite star nominated for lead actress in a musical.

Speaking on the latest episode of “Stagecraft,” Variety’s theater podcast, she continued, “The show is so epic. There’s so much information.

It’s brand new. And because of that, it’s going to stir different things in different people. That is the kind of art that I always want to be a part of.

So I’m just happy people are feeling strongly either way about it, honestly.” She added, “Art is supposed to spark debate and controversy, and sometimes be polarizing.” Iman, up for featured actress in a musical, noted that one of the things that audiences have responded to has been the casting of their two roles. “You have a show led by two women of color, which you’re not seeing anywhere else,” Iman said. “Some girls said to me last night, ‘I feel like I have a future in musical theater because of this.’ These girls whose voices are large or different or they do something that people don’t know what to do with.